Gift Card advice needed.

[RedSoxandPatsfan]

My daughter is going to Washington D.C. on a class trip in a few weeks. Her school has recommended using reloadable cards for spending money. I haven't been able to find these, but our local mall has gift cards that are AMEX. I have also found my bank has gift cards that are Visa.

Is either of these any better than the other?

Any other advice?

[micky95]

i've never used a gift like that but i believe visa is more widely accepted.

[tinksmom02]

I agree with micky95, I think Visa is a more universally accepted card.

[floridamom]

Amex cards charge an activation fee-- around $6.00, I think. And some smaller establishments don't take Amex.

The thing your daughter will need to watch out for with a Visa gift card is that she will need to keep track of the remaining balance. Say she has $16 left on it and wants to buy something for $20 and pay the difference in cash. She will have to know/tell the clerk to apply the $16 from the card - the store can't tell what the remaining balance is the way they can with their own gift cards, and if they just run the whole amount it will be declined. Your daughter could also call the 800 number or website on the card to find the balance, but that might be tricky while traveling, so it's best for her to keep track herself.

[dnickels]

Unless she's going to be bringing a huge amount of money she could just bring cash. I'm sure the school would prefer the cards because they're a little less inviting to thieves than cold hard cash, but if it's just a hundred bucks or so I think she could manage to keep that in her possession during the entire trip so there'd be no chance of it turning up missing.

Between the Amex and the Visa I'd go with the Visa gift cards. As mentioned, Amex charges pretty ridiculous activation fees as far as I'm concerned. No reason that you should have to spend $55 to have a use-able $50 gift card.

[TinkerbellT421]

Visa is pretty much accepted everywhere.
Amex on the other hand, is not. A lot of places do not accept Amex, they are an awfully inconvenient card holder bank.

I would give her a small, very minimum amount of cash for just in cases, but I highly recommended getting her a reloadable credit card. You can purchase these at Stop and Shop, Walgreens, etc. I have been able to find those pretty much anywhere. It is a basic gift card, sort of resembles a credit card and on the card itself will say, "reloadable" or something along those lines.

[MstngDrvnDsnyLvr]

Get a Visa GC - any big box retailer has them. There IS an activation fee, but VISA is taken just about anywhere. And if you have all the numbers, you can reload it.

[DisneyDog]

Check with your bank. Many banks sell them to customers with little or no service fees.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

I agree with using VISA rather than AMEX. Places that I know of that don't take AMEX are Walmart, Christmas Tree shop etc so I'm sure there are lots more little places that don't take them. I hope you has a great time.